Bandar Seri Begawan - During the DST Carnival, the first 1,000 D*Card subscribers will enjoy a waiver of the normal registration fee of $25, said DST last night on the sidelines of yesterday's official launch of the new loyalty card at the Jerudong Park Amphitheatre.

The D*Card is a co-brand card in partnership with Standard Chartered Bank. It is part of the DST Loyalty Programme and also Electronic Cash Card which provides customers with access to privileges through participating merchants in the form of attractive discounts a loyalty points. Customer can opt for the D*Card at their own choice and preference.

Present to launch the D*Card was Awang Abdul Latiff bin Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Setia Dato Paduka Haji Md Yusuf, a member of the DST Board of Directors who also officiated the launch of the DST Carnival 2012 earlier.

Also present were Idris T Vasi, Chief Executive Officer, DST; Matnurdin Ibrahim, General Manager of Kristal and Chairman of DST Carnival 2012; members of DST management and staff 4.

Also attending were CEO of Standard Chartered Bank, Lai Pei-Si, and General Manager Branch Sales and Services, Chatchawan Persukjarusap.

According to Suzana Ahamad, the Senior Manager of Group Product, DST, she said, 'This is another milestone for DST in enhancing its customers' loyalty programme. We are parting away from the norm of flash card concept for a loyalty programme that is also cashcard enabled. We are all very excited with our launch of the D*Card acts as a cashcard that also offers lots of attractive discounts at various places. both locally and elobally."

Suzana added, "The benefit of having a D*Card is not only having easy access to cash at over one million MasterCard or Cirrus ATMs worldwide, it is safe with its cashless transactions online or at over 30 million merchants worldwide. It also earns rewards points towards gift and cash redemption from your expenses at DST.

"Our D*Card customers can also enjoy the convenience of paying utility bills or purchasing prepaid electricity and mobile top-ups through Standard Chartered Bank's bill payment website. In the future, we are hoping that D*Card will accelerate or boost for mobile payment or commerce transactions in Brunei through mobile Apps."

Meanwhile, Lai Pei-Si, CEO of Standard Chartered Bank, said, "We are grateful to DST for their support and we value this partnership with them. Our Standard Chartered eCash card is a great product that offers our customers great convenience and benefits. We are delighted that this will now extend, to DST customers to enjoy and will add to the fantastic customers loyalty programme that DST has in place."

To emphasise further, DST redemption points obtained through the DST loyalty programme can be used to make Prima bill transactions, purchasing of Easi Starter pack or recharge card, or convert the points to redeem for cash back. With D*Card, DST makes it more convenient for their customers, they can choose to swipe or flash the card at merchants.

During the DST Carnival, the first 1,000 D*Card subscribers will enjoy a waiver of the normal registration fee of $25. Subsequently, the subscribers will be charged a promotional registration rate of $420 for the whole three years of the card validity. In addition to the sign up promotion, D*Card users will stand a chance to win lucky prizes for everyone and $20 loaded to D*Card from now to February 28, 2013. The prizes include three Mini iPads and cash rewards.

DST loyalty programme was launched in April 2003 with free registrations for all DST PRIMA customers and there are more than 80 per cent of DST Prima customers participating in the loyalty programme to date. As for existing DST Card holders, this will continue to remain as a flash card for those who wish to retain until further notifications from DST Loyalty Unit.

--Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin